Petitioners Demand Neil Young Change His Name to "Neil Old"

Some cultures revere their elders, feeling gifted to have knowledge bestowed upon them by well-experienced figures. Here in North America, some idiot is trying to badger rock icon Neil Young into changing his name to the decidedly more groan-worthy "Neil Old." Even worse, other ageists are backing the plan by signing an online petition.

A Change.org petition apparently started by a U.S. resident named Noah Landers has called Young's last name a "misnomer," considering the musician is 70 years old.

"The name Neil Young promises a certain youthfulness to the uninformed listener and, while his alto singing voice remains boyish, it has become a matter of false advertisement," Landers writes. "It's time for 'Shakey' to face the facts: he's not a young man anymore and every passing day makes his name more of a misnomer."

While the pun-ful petition has a low-hanging-fruit quality of humour to it, Landers has apparently found some other people that are, well, a lot like he is. The jokey campaign has yielded close to 150 signatures since going live, with signees pointing out how "oxymoronic" Young's last name is, or simply writing "he old."

As Barrie, ON resident Emily Mathieson says: "I'm signing because I am an avid supporter of being overly literal."

Maybe it's time to take a look at your life and make some real change in this world. You can sign the petition here.